Knowles (NYSE:KN) Sets New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Knowles Corporation's stock recently reached a new 52-week high of $23.58, indicating strong trading activity and interest in the company.
• Analysts have shown increasing optimism, with Craig Hallum upgrading Knowles' price target from $20.00 to $22.00 and another firm raising its rating to a "strong-buy."
• Institutional investors dominate ownership of Knowles, holding 96.35% of the stock, with Royce & Associates significantly increasing their stake by 31.5% in Q1.

Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $23.58 and last traded at $23.26, with a volume of 616924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Knowles from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Knowles from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Knowles Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 80.20 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert J. Perna sold 56,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.47, for a total transaction of $1,148,981.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 66,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,319.44. The trade was a 45.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.94, for a total value of $209,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 62,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,309,524.78. The trade was a 13.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knowles

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Knowles by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,611,679 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $24,498,000 after acquiring an additional 386,155 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Knowles in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,581,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Knowles in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,977,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Knowles by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,150,158 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $17,425,000 after acquiring an additional 320,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Knowles in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,697,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company's stock.

About Knowles

Knowles Corporation offers capacitors, radio frequency (RF) filtering products, balanced armature speakers, micro-acoustic microphones, and audio solutions in Asia, the United States, Europe, other Americas, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Precision Devices (PD); Medtech & Specialty Audio (MSA); and Consumer MEMS Microphones (CMM).

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